RATHOLE, Tenn. - Made it. Got a ride back to the hotel Thursday night after the Clippers' collapse, the final 10 yards covered on foot in a dash to the door. It was touch and go, but bravery won out. On Friday, there was daylight here. So I took a break from the Memphis email threats to walk the streets while I could. Right away I noticed someone else looking over his shoulder with every step he was taking. I won't say it was a friendly face, but it was a familiar one: Henry Bibby , the former UCLA great, USC turncoat and now an assistant coach for the Grizzlies.

March 19, 2001 | J.A. Adande, J.A. Adande can be reached at his e-mail address: ja.adande@latimes.com

There were a handful of NCAA tournament sites where the selection committee could have sent USC that would have retraced the steps of Trojan Coach Henry Bibby's NBA career. There was New Orleans, where Bibby played with the Jazz. There was San Diego, where Bibby ended his playing days with the Clippers. As it turned out the Trojans went to Long Island, just an expressway and a tunnel away from where Bibby started his career with the New York Knicks in 1972.

Miami signs Mike Bibby, Boston signs Troy Murphy, and the Lakers ? welcome Matt Barnes back from injury? The Lakers stood still in the aftermath of another personnel deadline, declining to add any of the top veterans recently waived by other teams, though they seemed fine with it. Coach Phil Jackson said he wasn't disappointed with the decision to avoid adding anybody. After all, he's the one who historically hates adding players once the season gets past the halfway point, practically ignoring late pickups Jim Jackson and Ira Newble in recent years.

I'm mad as hell and I can't take it anymore. Pepperdine is a major university and the basketball team doesn't get the coverage it deserves. The Waves have defeated Gonzaga and UCLA and they have the toughest schedule in the country. Paul Westphal should be coach of the year. He has proven to be two steps above Lavin and Bibby. What does it take to notice this team? Bob Morris Palos Verdes Estates

Jim Bibby Pitched in '79 Series Jim Bibby, 65, who pitched the first no-hitter in Texas Rangers history in 1973 and started two games for the victorious Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1979 World Series, died Tuesday at Lynchburg (Va.) General Hospital. The cause was not disclosed. Bibby, a 6-foot-5, 235-pound right-hander, also played for the St. Louis Cardinals and Cleveland Indians from 1972 to 1984 in the major leagues. His best season was 1980, when he went 19-6 with a 3.33 earned-run average for the Pirates, made the All-Star team and finished third in the National League Cy Young Award voting.

Five words from an unknown high school coach and several beeps from his pager are how USC Coach Henry Bibby found out the Trojans made the NCAA tournament. Scouting a junior college tournament in Texas on Sunday, Bibby did not watch the announcement that his team was seeded No. 11 in the Southeast region and will play sixth-seeded Illinois on Friday. "Some coach just walked up to me and said, 'Coach, you guys are in,' " Bibby said. "Then I had tons of calls on my pager."

USC Coach Henry Bibby was quick to yank players who were not performing well against Oregon on Thursday night. Eight of the 12 players who got into the game played at least 10 minutes. But in his search for someone who could score and protect the ball (the Trojans had 19 turnovers), Bibby limited the play of two freshmen who had been contributing. Greg Lakey, who started at forward, played only eight minutes.

Mike Bibby, the Arizona point guard who led the Wildcats to a national championship as a freshman two seasons ago and is considered by many to be the best point guard available in this month's NBA draft, worked out for the Clippers' General Manager Elgin Baylor at USC on Wednesday. In need of a point guard, the Clippers will likely choose Bibby with the first overall pick in the NBA draft on June 24.

Jim Bibby Pitched in '79 Series Jim Bibby, 65, who pitched the first no-hitter in Texas Rangers history in 1973 and started two games for the victorious Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1979 World Series, died Tuesday at Lynchburg (Va.) General Hospital. The cause was not disclosed. Bibby, a 6-foot-5, 235-pound right-hander, also played for the St. Louis Cardinals and Cleveland Indians from 1972 to 1984 in the major leagues. His best season was 1980, when he went 19-6 with a 3.33 earned-run average for the Pirates, made the All-Star team and finished third in the National League Cy Young Award voting.

On July 22 in Las Vegas, Michael Bibby will be playing in a basketball tournament. That's Michael Bibby, age 10. His dad, Mike Bibby, 30, star guard of the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA, will be in the coach's seat. No big deal there. Fathers coaching sons is the American way, especially when your father has been one of the best pro guards of this era. In the stands, chest all puffed up, watching every move of both Michaels, will be grandpa Henry, 58. Now that's a big deal.

NEW ORLEANS -- While the Nets and Mavericks tried to put their Jason Kidd deal back together, another big-name point guard moved Saturday, in a novel direction -- east. The Sacramento Kings, now in rebuilding mode, shipped Mike Bibby to Atlanta for Tyronn Lue, Anthony Johnson, Lorenzen Wright and Shelden Williams and a second-round draft pick. Of the four new Kings, only Williams doesn't have an expiring contract. Bibby was a mainstay on the Kings teams that fought a bitter rivalry with the Lakers, culminating in their dramatic meeting in the Western Conference finals in 2002, which the Lakers won, 4-3. "I want to thank Mike for his terrific all-around play," Kings President Geoff Petrie said in a statement.

Sacramento Kings point guard Mike Bibby tore a ligament in his left thumb and could be out six to 10 weeks, Kings Coach Reggie Theus said. "The treatment stuff is being evaluated," Theus said. "We don't know which route they're going to take." The exact timing of the injury was uncertain. Bibby traveled to Las Vegas with the Kings on Thursday for their exhibition game against the Lakers but returned to Sacramento before the game Friday. He underwent an MRI exam Friday morning.

Mike Bibby made one last dramatic three-point basket and strutted downcourt with his signature bigfoot walk. It has been a while since Bibby had a big-game effort that incited his home crowd as he did during the Sacramento Kings' better years. Bibby scored 37 points and made two of his franchise-record nine three-pointers in the final 1:15, leading the Kings to an improbable 107-100 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Sunday.

Mike Bibby doesn't have anywhere left to go in the Sacramento locker room when he wants to talk about the good ol' days. When the Kings sent Peja Stojakovic to Indiana in the deal for Ron Artest, it left Bibby as the only remaining player from the teams that won consecutive Pacific Division titles and nearly reached the 2002 NBA Finals. The core of the team that won an NBA-high 61 games that season gradually was broken up in recent years. Vlade Divac left after the 2003-04 season.

The stress fracture of Jeff Trepagnier's left foot has healed nicely but not quite enough for Coach Henry Bibby to put him back in USC's starting lineup. Bibby said Monday that the senior shooting guard will sit out the 23rd-ranked Trojans' game tonight against San Diego, and probably will miss Saturday's game against Loyola Marymount too. "If Jeff had to play, he could," Bibby said. "But I want him healthy, not playing one week then missing another.

After seeing his team lose seven of eight games, Coach Henry Bibby can still think of one opponent the Trojans could beat--last year's disappointing 9-19 team. "We would have beaten them by 15 points," Bibby said. Unfortunately, the 1997-98 team isn't on the schedule. Instead, the Trojans face road games against California, Stanford and UCLA in the next two weeks, which leaves them searching hard for someplace to steal a victory. "Yeah, you want a win but where do you get it?" Bibby said.

Henry Bibby, former coach of the USC men and the WNBA's Sparks, was hired Tuesday by the Philadelphia 76ers as an assistant on Coach Maurice Cheeks' staff, replacing Jim Lynam. Bibby, a 56-year-old former 76er teammate of Cheeks', most recently coached the Sparks and was replaced in August amid a 13-15 season. He coached USC for nine seasons and was 133-111 before being fired four games into last season. "I'm happy for him. He's a great coach," said USC junior guard Lodrick Stewart.

The Staples Center home folks, including former Spark coach Michael Cooper, warmly received Joe Bryant on Friday night in his first official game as the Sparks' coach-of-the-moment. And his team didn't squander the goodwill. A 74-67 victory over the Detroit Shock gave Bryant his first win and kept alive the Sparks' wispy playoff hopes.